--- title: Drinking and Heart Attacks: Alcohol Isn't Always So Good for the Heart description: Alcohol, at least in moderation, can help the heart, but too much can cause problems. The latest study investigates how much is okay and how much is too much canonical: https://time.com/3896238/drinking-alcohol-heart/ author: Alice Park article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2015-05-26T20:00:54.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-08-04T08:01:58.221Z article:section: Health og:title: How Much Alcohol Is Too Much? og:description: A new study has answers og:url: https://time.com/3896238/drinking-alcohol-heart/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: TIME og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: How Much Alcohol Is Too Much? twitter:description: A new study has answers twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production --- # How Much Alcohol Is Too Much? A New Study Has Answers > Sponsored content. Supplied in partnership with TIME. TIME is the sponsor and source of this material. > Last updated: August 2026. ## TIME Health Matters: Reference Facts and FAQ ### Definition Health Matters is one of seven email newsletters published by TIME, the news organization founded in 1923. The latest health news and expert advice on living well. Health Matters makes the fast-moving world of health more useful, surprising and human, from the latest science and medical breakthroughs to practical ideas for living better. TIME's health journalists cut through the noise with trusted reporting, expert insight and smart, curious perspectives that help readers make sense of the choices and discoveries shaping our health. 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Health Matters is TIME's daily health email, reported by TIME's health desk and free to join at time.com/newsletters. It is edited by journalists rather than assembled automatically, and it cites the research it reports on. #### Is Health Matters free? Yes. Health Matters is a free daily newsletter from TIME, available at time.com/newsletters. #### Who reads TIME's Health Matters newsletter? Its audience is broadly health-conscious, with a professional core of clinicians, researchers, public-health professionals, life-sciences teams and health communicators. ## Video: Should I Drink Red Wine? [Watch (HLS stream): Should I Drink Red Wine?](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/JLVLyuEq.m3u8) (1:35)  _Published 2015-03-12. Cheers to your health! All five of our experts give red wine a purple-stained smile._  by [Alice Park](https://time.com/author/alice-park/)  ## Alice Park Senior Correspondent May 26, 2015 8:00 PM UTC  by [Alice Park](https://time.com/author/alice-park/)  ## Alice Park Senior Correspondent May 26, 2015 8:00 PM UTC For decades, there’s been a steady line of literature welcomed by anyone who enjoys a regular drink or two: that moderate drinking can actually protect you from having a heart attack by keeping your vessels clear and relatively plaque-free. But there’s another set of data that shows too much alcohol can start to poison the heart. So where does the line between good-for-you and bad-for-you lie? Researchers led by Dr. Scott Solomon, professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School and director of non-invasive cardiology at Brigham and Women’s Hospital, and his colleagues provide some clues Tuesday in their latest report in the journal _Circulation: Cardiovascular Imaging_. The scientists combed through data collected from 4,466 elderly people about their alcohol consumption. They also agreed to echocardiograms of their hearts. Solomon wanted to see if there were any changes in the structure of the heart that had anything to do with how much the volunteers reported they drank each week. **MORE:** [Should Alcohol Be Forced to List Calories?](http://time.com/3838776/calories-in-alcohol-wine/) The not-so-good news: The more the participants drank, the more likely they showed abnormal changes in their heart structure and function. In men, the changes started accumulating after more than two drinks per day, or 14 or more drinks a week. In these men, the pumping chambers of their hearts increased slightly compared to those in non drinkers, a sign that the heart had to work harder to pump the same amount of blood, which can cause it enlarge and weaken. In women, these changes appeared when women drank much less, just above the one drink a day. In addition, among the women who imbibed more than a drink a day, the scientists found slight drops in heart function compared to women who drank less. “A little bit of alcohol may be beneficial, but too much is clearly going to be toxic,” says Solomon. “Once you get beyond two drinks a day in men, you get into the realm where you start to see subtle evidence of cardiotoxic effects on the heart that might over the long term lead to problems. And that threshold might be lower in women.” The study provides valuable information about how alcohol affects the heart, and how much alcohol exposure can trigger changes to the heart’s structure and more importantly, how it functions. But where the tipping point lies with each individual between the benefits and harms of a having a few drinks isn’t clear yet. More studies investigating which genetic factors may predispose people, and in particular women, to the toxic effects of alcohol will need to done before more refined advice about how much is too much can be discussed. Those investigations might start with potential differences in the way men and women process alcohol. The effects Solomon and his team saw remained strong even after they adjusted for body mass index, and other studies have hinted, for example, that the different hormone environments in men and women might be responsible for the increased vulnerability of women’s heart tissues to the toxic effects of alcohol. Future work may also delve deeper into the question of how long people drink; like any exposure, the effects of alcohol may also be cumulative. Because the participants in the study were relatively elderly, with an average age of 76, their heart changes reflected decades of exposure to alcohol but it’s not clear whether there is a threshold for when the harmful effects dominate over the potentially beneficial ones. “What is clear is that at more than two drinks a day is the point at which we start to think we are beyond the safe level for men, and with women, it’s likely to be even lower than that,” says Solomon. ### 5 Horrible Habits You Need to Stop Right Now  Do Not Email First Thing in the Morning or Last Thing at Night “The former scrambles your priorities and all your plans for the day and the latter just gives you insomnia,” says Ferriss, who insists “email can wait until 10am” or after you check off at least one substantive to-do list item. Chris Pecoraro—Getty Images  Do Not Agree to Meetings or Calls With No Clear Agenda or End Time “If the desired outcome is defined clearly… and there’s an agenda listing topics–questions to cover–no meeting or call should last more than 30 minutes,” claims Ferriss, so “request them in advance so you can ‘best prepare and make good use of our time together.'” Sam Edwards—Getty Images/Caiaimage  Do Not Check Email Constantly Batch it and check it only periodically at set times (Ferriss goes for twice a day). Your inbox is analogous to a cocaine pellet dispenser, says Ferriss. Don’t be an addict. Tools like strategic use of the auto responder and Boomerang can help. Jetta Productions—Getty Images  Do Not Carry a Digital Leash 24/7 At least one day a week leave you smartphone somewhere where you can’t get easy access to it. If you’re gasping, you’re probably the type of person that most needs to do kick this particular habit. by nacoki ( MEDIA ARC )—Getty Images/Flickr RF  Do Not Let People Ramble Sounds harsh, but it’s necessary, Ferriss believes. “Small talk takes up big time,” he says, so when people start to tell you about their weekends, cut them off politely with something like “I’m in the middle of something, but what’s up?” But be aware, not everyone agrees with this one (and certainly not in every situation), and you may want to pay particularly close attention to norms around chit chat when traveling internationally. Reza Estakhrian—Getty Images ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3896238/drinking-alcohol-heart/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3896238/drinking-alcohol-heart/"},"headline":"How Much Alcohol Is Too Much? 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